Trent-chant Point

There has been much discussion in the last few days about just how long Trent Cole, the Eagles' best pass rusher, was on the field during Chicago's decisive touchdown drive Sunday. Even Cole didn't know how many snaps he missed during the 11-play march.

I discovered the answer Tuesday night, after watching a replay of the game on the NFL Network (proving, yet again, that I have no life): Cole missed three plays -- a second-down snap from the Bears 32, on which Brian Griese passed seven yards to tight end Desmond Clark; a third-and-three snap, on which Griese hit wide receiver Bernard Berrian for a gain of 25; and a spike at the Eagles 36 with 31 seconds left.

Darren Howard replaced Cole for those three plays.

Cole was out there for the first six snaps of that possession. The last of those didn't count, since cornerback Lito Sheppard was flagged for defensive holding while Bears guard Alex Brown was called for holding Cole.

Cole returned for the final three plays, including Griese's game-winning touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad.

And for the record, this is not to suggest in any way, shape or form that Cole was dogging it. Nobody on the team plays harder, and it is widely believed that nothing in football is as tiring as rushing the passer.

As he said after the game, "Our rotation's good (at defensive end). ... We've got D-ends who can start. ... When you've got fresh guys like that, you need to get them in and get other people rest, and keep it pumping, keep pushing."